Dark Horse: It’s smokin’
The Americanisation of Britain is a deplorable thing, its worst manifestation being the inability of any teenage girl to construct a sentence that does…
Opinion
Destroying a chunk of Birmingham’s heritage
There’s sadness in the eyes of this model, hand-picked from Birmingham’s fruit and veg market. Understandably so because this city’s markets have become a…
Two Cats: Thanks for bringing us the C-word!
Birmingham’s culinary journey from gastronomic backwater to a city of a thousands tastes can, perhaps, be encapsulated in just one letter – the letter…
Where can you eat good Italian food in Birmingham? Leicester.
For years I’ve chuntered on about the lack of truly great Italian restaurants in Birmingham. There are a few small family-run places that offer…
Thanks for some great cookery lessons, Marco
The mutilated cover and tatty opening pages say it all, I guess. The paper burnt, ripped and so fragile that bits flake off when…
Simpson’s: This is what a Michelin-starred roast looks like
Take a look at this and tell me, hand on racing heart, that your taste buds aren’t auditioning for Strictly Come Dancing. Mine certainly…
Nomad: Razor-sharp with the clams!
Audacity is a good thing in a chef. It challenges the tedious. It creates new experiences for customers. It’s exciting. It can, of course,…
It’s fine to dine scruffily
Tom Aikens, an extraordinarily talented chef with a gift for creating surprising dishes, was less surprising in a recent observation. Fine dining, he said,…
The Plough left me with no furrowed brow
Please let no-one run away with the idea that I have anything but the greatest respect for Harborne and its inhabitants. To spend a…
Stupid slates, wonky wheelbarrows and barmy boards
It is difficult to imagine who, other than a midget gardener, would want a miniature watering can. Yet I, admittedly of restricted height but…